Detailed information
Dimensions
58 x 58 x 32
mm
Weight
108 g
Locality
Dassu, Braldu Valley Skardu District, Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Condition
No recorded repairs
Dassu in the Braldu Valley of the Skardu District in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, is situated amongst a breath-taking landscape of snow-capped mountain peaks bisected by deep sinusoidal valleys. It is amazing how anyone has been able to traverse and explore such a rugged and hostile terrain. But explore it they have with a quite remarkable number of mineral localities. This small cabinet specimen comprises of two opaque, black Schorl crystals, an iron-rich member of the Tourmaline Group. The longer crystal measures 5 cm long and is terminated in a Mercedes trigonal pattern; the smaller Schorl is not terminated, being broken at both ends. The two crystals are set apart at a slight angle within a matrix of Cleavelandite, a platy variety of Albite Feldspar.
